Cycle saddle



J. W. BRANDT Nov. 8, 1932.

CYCLE SADDLE Filed Sept. 19, 1930 INVENTOR. M M Bra/7J2 A TTORNEYfiPatented Nov. 8, 1932 JOI-IN- W. BRANDT, OFxELYR-IA, OHIO CYCLE SADDLEApplication filedfieptember 19, 1930; SeriaFNo. 482,897.

My invention relates to saddles, and-relates moreparticularly to saddlesadapted to beused for bicycles, 'motorcycles, velocipedes, and the like.

An objectcof my invention is to provide a saddle of improvedconstruction afiording a high degree of comfort in use.

Another object of my invention-is to provide asaddlehavinga novelcombinedreach m and? springrmember: construction, dispensing with allauxiliary'compressionl and tension springs.

Another object: of. my invention isto provide an improved saddlewhichwillbe simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture,

and to maintain in efficient use.

. Another object of my invention is to provide I an improved saddleemploying a minimum number of parts, which are capable of.

heing;very-inexpensively fabricated.

Otherv objectso-f my invention, andthe in vention itself, willbecomemore apparent by reference to the following description of anembodiment of? my invention illustrated in the-accompanying drawing, towhich reference-ismade therein Referring now to the drawmg Fig.1 isabottom plan view of theimproved saddle of my invention, withassociatedclampshown in dotted lines.

Fig, 2 is av longitudinal medial; sectional view of the saddle ofmyinvention.

Referringlnow to all of the figuresof drawing in all of which like partsare designated by'like reference characters.

For thesaddle shown in the drawing, and which is an embodiment of myinvention, tosupport' the seat element, a longitudinally extending reachmember is provided, this 4 being in the form preferably of a singlepiece of steel spring wire bent into the form of a loop to provide apair of rearwardly extending substantially parallel side arms 1 and2:Each of? the said side arms 1 and 2,. inturn, are bent into the formofsubstane tially vertical loops, with an intermediate rearmost portionofeach formed to provide preferably a plurality of convolutions, whichform contractile spring-elements 3.

5.0 The saddle frame preferably comprises a sheet metal base 12,afleather or like cover-1.0,, and: upholstering material- 11', enclosed;be-- tween the cover andbaseh' lVhile the seat 10 may beg-of any.desired. construction, I: preferably provide itwitha; sl1eetmetal;subframe 12.. v

The reach arms 1 and 21 are integrally; joinedat'their front. ends byayoke portion 13, which is passedthrough;the loopedclipi 1a, which issecured: by a; rivet 15to;the-- pommel or forward end-1 0fthesaddlebasa12. The loops- 3prefer-ably comprisea plurality. of convolutions,asillustratediin Rig. 1, and are providedfor the purpose -oflimpartingresiliency; to the supporting reach;

members. I

The seat is-supported-on the substantially UTshaped reachemembenasibestillustrated in Fig-,2 as comprisinga-. pair of forwardly extendingarmsliand 4 adapt-edto be secured, to the ysaddle-seatbythe, clips-14 and;16. .andhaving; resilient means .3- at their" ypke: con-=- nectorportion by virtue ofthe clip, conned-- tion; 14:; at its intermediateforwardly-i disposed yoke portion 13, and the laterally err-'1tending'ends 5 .of the. portions 4,- .of.the reach.)

arms 1 and2, said portions, extendingforr wardlyand upwardly from ;the 1spring; con volutions 3. Thereach arms are. supported intermediate theyoke 13. and. the convolue 89 tions 3, preferably nearthe convolutions,

being; engaged by gripping, extensions v7 and,

, andthe seat: at the three.spacedpointsnamely; at. the clip lbandat.each of. the clips 16;

Thespring mounting for the: saddle ofcniy,

present invention operates in a novel mode to yield to road shocks,whereby an easier riding saddle is had. This is effected by virtue ofthe construction shown wherein the convolutions 3 furnishing most of thespring action are supported rearwardly of the hinged-ends 5 of the arms4 which extend upwardly and forwardly therefrom, and by virtue of thefact that the portions of the reach arms 1 and 2 which extend betweenthe clamp 6, 7 and 8 and the forwardly disposed hinge end 13 of thereach element is less yieldable in the downward direction than are thehinged ends of the arms 4.

By virtue of this construction, upon a road shock tending to move thesaddle downwardly by virtue of the weight of the rider upon it, thehinged ends 5 of the arms 4 tend to rotate about the hinged ends 13 ofthe reach arms 1-2, substantially in the direction indicated by thedotted line terminating in the arrow a, Fig, 2, which substantially coact as a single reach element, even though there be some slighter bodilymovement of the hinged end 13 downwardly effecting a slight rotarymovement of said hinged end 13 in the clip 14 acting as a bearing.

At the same time the hinged ends 5 of the arms 4 will tend to move curvlinearly about the axis a: of the s oring convolutions 3, along somesuch line as t 1e dotted line shown which terminates in the arrow 6 inFig. 2.

However, by virtue of the relative rigidity of the base 12 of the saddleseat, causing it to act more or less like a truss between the ends 18and 5 of the spring reach element, as before described in the directionof the arrow a, there will be a rearward longitudinal thrust exertedupon the short arms 4 of the reach element and this will effect arearward and slightly downward bodily movement of the convolutions 3 toshiftits axis a: substantially as indicated by the arrow 0, while at thesame time, the convolutions will be constricted by a Winding up actionefiected by the downward movement of the ends 5 of the reach armportions 4:, which will move approximately in the direction of the arrow(Z.

I find that the spring action efiected substantially as above described,as nearly as I can describe it, by virtue of the operative principlesinvolved in the construction shown and described, effects a verysatisfactory and most comfortable saddle mounting spring operation, andwhich at minimum cost of manufacture is superior to most saddle springconstructions greatly exceeding the cost thereof, and in which priorspring constructions, the spring action relied upon is merely a simpleup and down movement of the saddle cantle upon resilient underlyingsupporting springs provided thereunder, and supporting the saddlecantle. The present saddle construction provides a progressively shockabsorbing yieldable mount for the saddles capable of absorbing shock,whether effective vertically or longitudinally, as when encounteringrough surfaces during riding of the vehicle which the saddles mount.

It is to be noted that the ends 5 of the short spring arms 4 areresiliently retained within the clip 16, and that the convolutions 3 ofthe spring disposed intermediate the arms 12 and the arms 4 reinforcethe arms 4 against dislodgment of the ends 5 from the clip by inwardmovement of such arm ends, there being but relatively short lengths ofthe straighter reach arm portions provided between the convolutions andthe clips and clamp.

Having thus described my invention in a specific embodiment, I am awarethat numerous and extensive departures may be made from my inventionillustrated and described herein, but without departing from the spiritthereof.

I claim:

1. In a cycle saddle, the combination of a cycle seat, a supporttherefor comprising a loop having a long arm and a short arm and anintermediately disposed yieldable element joining the two arms, ayieldable connector for the free ends of each of said armsjoining itsassociated arm to the underside of the cycle seat, the connector for thelonger arm being disposed substantially forwardly of the connector forthe shorter arm, said yieldable element disposed substantiallyrearwardly of both said connectors, said seat, said shorter arm and saidlonger arm being in successive superposed relation, said seat beinguppermost and said short arm being intermediate said seat and anunderlying portion of the longer arm, said longer arm adapted formounting on a saddle post and supporting the other parts of the cyclesaddle thereon, said arms forming substantially the sole support forsaid saddle on said post.

2. In a cycle saddle, the combination of a cycle seat,a resilientsupport therefor comprising an intermediately disposed clamp forsecuring the seat by said support to a saddle post, a forwardlyextending reach arm element extending from said clamp to a forwardportion of the seat and hingedly connected thereto, a resilient loophaving forwardly directed arms disposed substantially rearwardly of saidclamp, the end of a lowermost of said arms being secured in said clampand the end of the other arm being hingedly secured to said saddle abovethe clamp and substantially spaced from the forward end of the saddle,said arms forming substantially the sole support for said saddle on saidpost.

3. In a cycle saddle, the combination of a cycle seat, a resilientsupport therefor comprising an intermediately disposed clamp forsecuring the seat by said support to a saddle post, a forwardlyextending reach arm eloment extending from said clamp to a forwardportion of the seat and hingedly connected thereto, a resilient loophaving forwardly directed arms disposed substantially rearwardly of saidclamp, the end of a lowermost of said arms being secured in said clampand the end of the other arm being hingedly secured to said saddle abovethe clamp and substantially spaced from the forward end of the saddle,said loop comprising a plurality of intermediately disposed springconvolutions, said arms forming substantially the sole support for saidsaddle on said post.

4. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientU-shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat and making ayielding supporting engagement therewith by one of its arms, a clamp forclamping the other arm to a saddle post substantially below said seatengaging arm and forwardly thereof, and seat supporting means secured bysaid clamp to said post extending forwardly therefrom and engaging theseat substantially forwardly of the said point of en agement of saidarm, said arms forming substantially the sole support for said saddle onsaid post.

5. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientU-shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat and making ayielding supporting engagement therewith by one of its arms, a clamp forclamping the other arm to a saddle post sub stantially below said seatengaging arm and forwardly thereof, and seat supporting means secured bysaid clamp to said post extending forwardly therefrom and engaging theseat substantially forwardly of the said point of engagement of saidarm, said means comprising a prolongation of said other arm through saidclamp, said arms forming substantially the sole support for said saddleon said post.

6. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientU-sha'pedseat supporting element disposed below the seat and making ayielding supporting engagement therewith by one of its arms, a clamp forclamping the other arm to a saddle post substantially below said seatengaging arm and forwardly thereof, and seat supporting means secured bysaid clamp to said post eX- tending forwardly therefrom and engaging theseat substantially forwardly of the said point of engagement of saidarm, said U-shaped element having a relatively most yieldable portionjoining its two ends, said arms forming substantially the sole supportfor said saddle on said post.

7. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientU-shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat and making ayielding supporting engagement therewith by one of its arms, a clamp forclamping the other arm to a saddle post subof wire and comprising anintermediate'ly;

formed spring coil, saidclarms eXte-ndingvforwardlytherefrom; saidarnisforining sub-s stantially the sole support"forsaidsaddle on: said?post-;V Z

8: Ina cycle saddle, the combination of cycle seat, a resilient unitaryreach and spring support therefor, comprising a loop "having rearwardlyextending substantially: parallel 7 arm portions, arr intermediately'disposed clamp for securingthe seatby said'supp ort to a saddlepost theportion-sof 'saitl arms exg tending from said'elamp to aforward portionof-the seat and hingedly 'connected' thereto at their yoke; portion,andith'e portions-of said armsextending rearwa-rdly from said clamp,forming a resilient loop having forwardly directed arm extensionsdisposed substantially rearwardly of said clamp, the ends thereof beinghingedly secured to said saddle above the clamp and substantially spacedfrom the forward end of the saddle.

9. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientunitary U-shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat, theyoke of said U-shaped element comprising resilient means havingforwardly disposed arms adapted to be secured to said seat forwardly ofsaid. resilient means and a clamp for clamping one of said arms to asaddle post disposed substantially forwardly of said resilient means.

10. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientunitary U- shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat, theyoke of said U-shaped element comprising resilient means havingforwardly disposed arms adapted to be secured to said seat forwardly ofsaid resilient means and a clamp for clamping one of said arms to asaddle post disposed substantially forwardly of said resilient means,and substantially forwardly of the point of engagement of one of saidarms to said seat.

11. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientunitary U- shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat, theyoke of said U-shaped element comprising the relatively most yieldableportion and having forwardly disposed substantially parallel armsadapted to be secured to said seat, a clamp for clamping one of saidarms to a saddle post disposed substantially forwardly of said'resilientmeans, said U-shaped element being formed from a length of wirecomprising an intermediately formed spring coil, said arms extendingforwardly therefrom.

12. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientunitary U- shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat, theyoke of said U-shaped element comprising resilient means having a pairof forwardly disposed arms, each adapted to be secured to said seatforwardly of said resilient means. 13. A cycle saddle comprising asaddle seat, a substantially resilient unitary U- shaped seat supportingelement disposed below the seat, said element comprising a pair of armsand an intermediate resilient yoke portion. 1

14. A cycle saddle comprising a saddle seat, a substantially resilientunitary U- shaped seat supporting element disposed below the seat, theyoke of said U-shaped element having a pair of arms each adapted to besecured to said saddle seat.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature this 17 day ofSeptember, 1930.-

' JOHN W. BRANDT.

